Hundreds of students block Liberia roads to demand teachers return
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on The Liberian Investigator
Hundreds of students in Monrovia’s public school system blocked roads in Monrovia and Paynesville to demand the return of teachers, whose go-slow has disrupted classes for three months. The government added 201 volunteer teachers to the national payroll, but the school system’s superintendent said the dispute was mainly over salary increases, The Liberian Investigator reports.
Hundreds of students blocked several roads in Monrovia and Paynesville on Tuesday to demand that teachers return to class at the Monrovia Consolidated School System, where a go-slow has been under way for three months. The protest paralysed traffic for more than four hours on Pipeline Road and ended at the Capitol, where the students handed a petition to the House of Representatives, according to The Liberian Investigator.
The Liberian government added the system’s 201 remaining verified volunteer teachers to the national payroll. However, the system’s superintendent, Augurie E. Stevens, told lawmakers that the dispute was mainly about salary increases, which had been deferred to a public service pay reform with no timetable. She added that several teachers had obtained higher degrees without receiving a salary increase.
The students’ union, led by its president Sekou V. Siryon and secretary-general Jenkins B. Toe, is calling for the implementation of a memorandum of understanding signed on 27 March, the departure of deputy superintendent Emmanuel Kyne Robertson, an end to students’ involvement in administrative disputes and an increase in the school budget. The petition, entitled “Four Demands, One Struggle”, was submitted after a 24-hour ultimatum issued to the government on Monday.
The mobilisation marks a new stage following the boycott of classes by Monrovia teachers, which had already been extended on 2 October. It also follows the Liberian Parliament’s summons to the Education Ministry, announced on 16 October after earlier school protests.
Summary produced with the help of artificial intelligence tools, under AFREEQUE’s editorial responsibility.
